Description :
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Water quality is an urgent problem in the Lake Chivero catchment, Zimbabwe, whilst
water scarcity will be a problem soon. This study focused on assessing the potential
impacts of the application of cleaner production principles in urban water supply
and sanitation in the context of sustainable management of water resources. The
cleaner production principles are explained together with how they can be applied
to urban water management. Data from City of Harare and previous studies were collected
and analysed. The study focused mainly on water, nitrogen and phosphorus. About
304,000 m3/d of wastewater, containing 30,000 kg/d TN and 3600 kg/d TP are currently
produced and treated at five sewage treatment works in Harare. Water conservation,
treatment and reuse strategies were developed for different land uses starting from
water-saving devices, regulation, leak detection and repair, to wastewater treatment
and reuse. This study showed that the application of the cleaner production principles
would reduce total wastewater production from 487,000 m3/d to 379,000 m3/d (a 27%
reduction) based on year 2015 projections. A very large investment in treatment
infrastructure can be postponed for about 10 years. In terms of amounts treated
and discharged at central level this translates to reductions of 47% on flows, 34%
on TN, and 44% on TP. River discharges can be eliminated. It was concluded that
a cleaner production approach could substantially reduce current water pollution
and long-term scarcity problems in Harare. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474706504001949
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